The Famished Foodie

Hotteok (Korean pancake)

2014-05-04T22:01:00.000-07:00

Autumn is here and it is freeing! So to warm me up this cold morning I decided to make something hot, sweet and delicious. Hotteok is a Korean pancake that is jam packed with either a sweet filling of brown sugar and nuts or a savoury filling of stir fried veggie noodles. It's a popular street food in Korea and is only made during the winter.

Hotteok with a sweet brown sugar filling

Makes 8

1 cup warm water

2 tbsp CSR white sugar

2 tsp dry yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp Vegetable oil

2 cups White Wings plain flour

1/2 cup CSR brown sugar

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

1 tsp cinnamon

Place warm water into a bowl and stir in the white sugar, dry yeast, salt and vegetable oil. Stir well.

Add the plain flour and mix it by hand. Let the dough rise for about 1hr at room temperature.

After an hour the dough will rise to double it size. Knead the dough to rid it of gas bubbles. Let it rise for another 10-20 mins.

To make the filling combine the brown sugar, walnuts and cinnamon.

Knead the dough again to rid it of gas bubbles. Place about 1/2 cup plain flour on to your bench top and knead the dough and divide into 8 balls.

Take 1 ball, flatten it, put some filling in the centre, seal it and then roll back in to a ball. Repeat with the rest.

Heat up some vegetable oil in a pan and place a ball on the pan and let it cook for 30 seconds.

When the bottom of the ball is lightly golden, flip the ball over and flatten it down.

Let it cook for about 1 min or until the bottom is lightly golden.

Flip it over once more and cook it on low heat with the pans lid on for 1 min.

Repeat with the rest of the balls.

Serve immediately! Enjoy!

Braised Lamb Shanks

2014-03-01T18:13:00.001-08:00

Dinner last night was juicy braised lamb shanks with homemade creamy mashed potato and steamed green beans (not pictured). Need I say more?

It was my first time cooking with lamb shanks and it was a huge success! They were juicy, moist and full of flavour. The meat was falling off of the bone. It was mouthwatering! To compliment this beautiful flavoursome meat, I whipped up some homemade creamy mashed potato and steamed some fresh green beans (not pictured). They worked so well together, I had to stop myself from overindulging in all of its finger-licking goodness. You have to try this at home!

Braised Lamb Shanks with Creamy Mash Potato and Steamed Green Beans

8 Lamb shanks

Plain flour (for coating)

Butter/oil

3 Onions, diced

5 Garlic cloves, sliced

3 tbsp thyme

1x400g can of crushed tomatoes

4 cups Chicken/beef stock or water

Veggie of your choice

Coat all your lamb shanks in flour evenly, shake off any excess. Melt some butter or heat up some oil on high heat. Brown off the lamb shanks and then remove from the pot and set aside.

In the same pot, melt off some butter and cook the onions and garlic until golden. Add the lamb shanks, stock, crushed tomatoes, thyme. Let it cook on medium heat for about 1hr 30mins or until the meat falls off of the bone.

Once the lamb shanks are cooked, serve with mashed potato and top with the delicious thickened juices from the pot.

Coffee Swirled Walnut Cake

2014-02-21T00:14:00.000-08:00

A coffee swirled walnut cake is probably the most easiest thing you can make. Its perfect for when you want a quick sweet fix or you need to quickly whip something up for unexpected guests. This is a cake that my mum used to make. She basically threw a few ingredients together and voila, with each bite came a deliciously soft mouthful of goodness. It's now something that she gets me to make and it brings back lots of memories. She would whip this up back when I was in primary school (minus the coffee) with chunks of chocolate mixed through and together with my sister, we would heat it up and devour it with a glass of cold milk. It was so good, especially during the colder months.

Coffee Swirled Walnut Cake

Serves about 9

3 eggs

1 cup CSR caster sugar

1 cup oil

1 cup Pura milk

White Wings Self Raising Flour

1 tbsp Nescafe Coffee

1 tbsp boiling water

Crushed Walnuts

Mix all the ingredients together. Add the flour until you reach a thick cake-like consistency. Pour into prepared pan.

Combine the coffee and water. Spoon the coffee over the cake and swirl it around with a spoon. Sprinkle over the crushed walnuts.

Bake in a 180C fan forced oven for 30 mins or until cooked through.

Serve warm with a cold glass of milk.

Tteokbokki (Spicy rice cakes)

2014-02-18T00:12:00.000-08:00

Tteokbokki is a combination of rice cake and fish cake cooked in a hot and spicy sauce. Its a very popular street food in Korea, during winter. I have always been meaning to try making this but could never find the tteok (rice cakes) to make it. By luck I found a Korean grocer who had heaps of them, frozen and fresh.

So I made it then nearly ate all of it. I had to restrain myself because it was that good! It might not suit everyones palate as it is cooked in an anchovy stock and is super spicy but it was soooo yummy that I kept going back for more!

These are the rice cakes. They're super soft and chewy. They're quite plain tasting, that's why its cooked in a delicious sauce.

Gochujang (fermented red pepper paste), gochugaru (red pepper flakes) and tteok (rice cakes)

The fish cakes are chopped up to make reasonable bite sizes.

To make the anchovy stock, you put together some water and anchovy and boil it off until you reach your desired strength.

While the anchovy stock was being made, I combined some gochujang (fermented hot pepper paste), hot pepper flakes, sugar and garlic to create the hot and spicy sauce.

Tteokbokki

Serves 3

4 cups water (more if you need)

handful of dried anchovies (more or less as desired)

650g tteok (rice cake)

3 fish cake sheets

1/3 cup gochujang (fermented red chilli paste)

1 tbsp gochugaru (red pepper flakes)

1 tbsp sugar

3 garlic cloves

If your rice cakes and fish cakes are frozen, defrost them.

In a pot, boil the water and anchovies for about 10-15 mins or until an aromatic stock is formed.

In a small bowl, combine the gochujang, gochugaru, sugar and garlic cloves.

Once the stock is ready, remove the anchovies and dissolve in the hot pepper paste mixture.

Once dissolved, add the rice cakes and fish cakes. Let it cook for about 5-10 mins or until the sauce thickens and the rice and fish cakes are soft. Add extra water if it thickens to quickly or if you want it a little watery.

Serve immediately. Enjoy.

Rainbow Cake

2014-01-18T02:21:00.000-08:00

Rainbow Cake! It's colourful, pretty, fun and looks so delicious but that's where it all stops. The renowned rainbow cake just didn't do it for me. Did it taste good? Yeh I guess as much as any vanilla cake would taste but it didn't have an enough punch in flavours that I would have liked. And yes it was just another 'vanilla cake' so what was I really expecting? It is taking me forever to find a delicious vanilla cake recipe and this was just another cross off of my list. Im actually super happy that it didn't work out because this gives me a chance to experiment further and jazz up the flavours and the way it looks. YAY!

So here it is. My first attempt at a vanilla flavoured rainbow cake.

Rainbow Cake

Serves 6-8

2 cups White Wings flour

2 cups CSR caster sugar

3/4 cup Custard powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup Pura milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 cup boiling water

Red, blue, green, orange, yellow and purple food colouring

Icing

1 block (250g) unsalted butter

250ml thick cream

2 tsp vanilla essence or 1 vanilla bean

Icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 150C fan forced.

Combine the flour, sugar, custard powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix through.

Mix in the milk, vegetable oil, eggs and vanilla essence. Pour in the boiling water slowly until mixed thoroughly. Mix on high for 1 min.

Divide into 6 bowls. Assign each colour to a bowl. Add the colour until its a bright and vibrant colour.

Bake separately in the same pan to get the same size for each layer for about 20-30 mins or until cooked through.

Mean while, whip the butter until light and fluffy, incorporate the cream slowly. Add the vanilla bean/essence. Add the icing sugar until you reach the consistency and sweetness that you desire.

Layer the cake and icing. Serve.

Super Moist Banana Bread

2014-01-12T23:59:00.001-08:00

I love bananas! So when I have extra over ripe bananas lying around, I get cooking. Quick tip! When a bananas peel is almost black, don't be fooled! That's when the banana is at its best. Inside you'll find a delicious white flesh that is super sweet and perfect for cakes and bread.

My intention was to make a banana bread but it came out looking more like a cake. This is my first time making banana bread and I must say it tasted delicious. It had the right amount of banana and spice but I regret not adding any walnuts.

The crumble on top worked so well with the banana bread as it gave it that extra sweetness.

Make sure not to over cook the bread otherwise it'll become super dry and crumbly. If I had cooked it for any longer it would've lost its moistness and been very dry to eat.

Banana Bread

Serves 5-10

2 cups White Wings flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp mixed spice

1/2 cup soft butter

3/4 cup CSR brown sugar

2 eggs, lightly beaten

4-5 ripe bananas, mashed

2 tsp vanilla essence

Topping

1/4 cup White Wings flour

1/4 cup CSR brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp mixed spice

2 tbsp cold butter

Preheat the oven to 170C fan forced.

Combine flour, baking soda, salt and mixed spice in a bowl and mix well.

In another bowl cream the brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Stir in the egg, vanilla essence and bananas.

Fold in the flour mixture into the banana mixture. Pour into a loaf or cake pan.

For the topping, combine the flour, brown sugar, salt, mixed spice and rub in the butter. Sprinkle the topping mixture and bake for 20-30 mins or until baked through.

Asian Chicken Dumplings in a Delicious Broth

2014-01-04T18:33:00.001-08:00

Dinner requires way too much thinking! Should I have something healthy? Something light? Soup? Sandwich? I like to first find some inspiration from different cultures, whether it be Chinese, Turkish or Indian. Yesterday was a Chinese inspired kind of dinner. I whipped up some amazing chicken wontons soaked in a deliciously, hot, aromatic broth.

I used simple every day ingredients and blitzed the whole thing together with the chicken to create a fine mince. The smell that was coming from the blender was just amazing! The coriander and ginger just consumed my sense of smell.

Using ready made wonton wrappers made the process so much easier. Of course you can make your own dough (recipe here) but if you want to speed up the time or your just feeling lazy these are the way to go.

Once the dumplings have all been made just pop them into a pot of boiling water and let them cook.

Pop them in cold water to stop the cooking process.

The broth had the most beautiful smell and tasted amazing. You can smell and taste everything individually. The sourness and floral aroma from the lime, the freshness from the spring onions and lemongrass, the sweetness from the brown sugar, the punch from the garlic, ginger and the spiciness from the sambal oelek. It was a bowl of pure bliss!

Chicken Dumplings Soup

Serves 5

Wonton wrappers or DIY dumpling dough

Filling

2 chicken breasts

2 spring onions

1/2 bunch coriander

One thumb size of ginger

2-3 garlic cloves

3-4 tbsp fish sauce

1-2 tbsp oyster sauce

Salt

Broth

3 cups chicken stock

3 cups water (can be substituted for chicken stock)

1 lemongrass

Thumb size ginger, sliced thinly or grated

2-3 garlic cloves, sliced thinly or crushed

2 spring onions

1-2 tbsp Sambal Oelek or chilli

1-2 lime

4-5 tbsp soy sauce

Veggies of your choice: Bok choy, etc.

Combine all the filling ingredients into a blender and blitz until its a fine mince. Test out the flavour by cooking a teaspoon of the mixture. Add more of each ingredient until its to your taste.

Start wrapping your dumplings. (This is how you do it)

Boil a pot of water. Once the water has boiled, pop in your dumplings and let it cook for 5 mins or until cooked through. Once cooked pop into a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking process.

Meanwhile get your broth ready. Boil the chicken stock and water together. Chop the lemongrass and spring onions 1 cm thick and pop them into the pot. Add the ginger, garlic, soy sauce and sambal oelek. Add any veggie of your choice, I added baby bok choy and let it cook with the broth.

Once the broth is infused and enriched with all the flavours, take it off heat and add the lime according to taste.

In a bowl, place your cooked dumplings and soak them with the delicious broth.

Ready to serve.

Wrapping Dumplings

2014-01-04T18:29:00.000-08:00

So this is a quick 'How to' on wrapping or folding dumplings. They're so many ways to do it but I'll show you the super quick and easy way I do it.

First step is to fill your dumplings with whatever filling you want. Don't overfill it or else it will explode!

Next with a little water we slightly wet two corner sides to create the stickiness to keep the dough together. Do not soak it in water!

Now we fold and glue together the sides so it looks like a triangle. Now you can leave them like this and just use it as is or fold them even further. Either way is just fine.

To further fold, slightly wet one of the adjacent corners and just fold them over one another.

And then you get this perfect looking dumpling shape. Yay! You did it!

Have fun with it and try out different dumpling shapes and maybe even come up with your own!

Sticky Chocolate Buns

2013-12-27T02:10:00.000-08:00

Uhhh! I'm salivating just at the thought of eating one of this delicious buns. They're soft and fluffy and filled with chocolatey goodness. You have to try them for yourself because words don't do it any justice!

I have also made these using sultanas and its been equally delicious. There are so many flavours you can experiment with, so mix and match until you get the one that tingles your taste buds.

Sticky Chocolate Buns

Makes about 12 buns

For the dough:

1x7g dried sachet yeast

275 ml warm milk

1 egg

450g White Wings plain flour

25g CSR caster sugar

1 tsp salt

50g unsalted butter, melted

1 cup Nestle milk/dark chocolate buttons

For the filling:

50g butter

2 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup CSR brown sugar

For the sugar syrup:

1/4 cup CSR sugar dissolved in 2tbsp boiling water

For the coffee icing:

2 cups CSR icing sugar

20 ml espresso coffee

Dissolve the yeast in the milk. Whisk in the egg. Fold in the flour, sugar, salt. Add the butter and mix well. Leave for 10 mins. Add the chocolate buttons.

Lightly oil an area and lightly knead the dough. Return to the bowl and leave it for another 10 mins. Knead it twice more at 10 min intervals, then cover it and let it rise double its size, about an hour.

Flour an area and roll out the dough into a large rectangle.

Melt the butter and stir in the cinnamon and brown sugar. Spread the filling evenly around the dough until all areas are covered.

Roll up the dough tightly and cut into thick pieces, about 3cm thick. Place tightly into a rectangular pan, cover and let it rise for about 30 mins.

Bake at 220C for about 15 mins or until golden.

Mix the icing sugar and espresso until its at a thick consistency.

Freshly out of the oven, glaze the buns with the sugar syrup and serve with the coffee icing or by itself. Either way its super delicious!

Vanilla Caramel Latte Oats with Banana Mylk

2013-12-22T22:47:00.000-08:00

What better way to start your early morning with a delicious warm bowl of vanilla caramel latte oats? I live for my morning coffee so this was a great way to combine one of my favourite beverages and breakfast.

Together with my oats I whipped up some cold banana mylk with cinnamon (recipe here). Banana mylk is the combination of banana with a little water to thin it out and produce a dairy free beverage.

Vanilla Caramel Latte Oats

Serves 1

1/3 cup Uncle Toby's 3 grain oats

2/3 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp Nestle instant coffee (add more accordingly)

Caramel sauce (either bought or homemade)

Warm the milk and dissolve the coffee.

Pour the milk into the oats and add the vanilla essence.

Cook the oats however you like, either with a microwave or on a stove top, until smooth and creamy.

Serve with caramel sauce on top.

Banana Mylk

Serves 1

1 small ripe banana

Water

Mash the banana until it is very smooth.

Slowly add water until it reaches the consistency you desire.

Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Carrot Cake Oats!

2013-11-27T21:36:00.001-08:00

I absolutely love oats! They're super easy to make, super delicious and they fill me right up! I like to jazz up my oats so I don't get bored from eating them so often, so this week I made carrot cake oats. It was super delicious and creamy and every mouthful tasted like a super moist carrot cake, hence the name. The only thing missing was the crunch factor! Unfortunately I didn't have any nuts at home which was a huge let down! But it was delicious all the same.

Carrot Cake Oats

1/3 cup Uncle Toby's three grain oats

2/3 cup milk

1 small carrot, finely grated*

1 tsp mixed spice*

1 tsp cinnamon*

Sweetener of your choice (sugar, honey, etc)

Topping of your choice (walnuts, etc)

Mix the carrot, mixed spice, cinnamon and oats in a bowl. Add the milk and stir until well combined.

Microwave for 1min 30secs or cook on the stove top for about 2 mins or until cooked through.

Top with crushed walnuts. Ready to serve.

*I used a small grater to grate the carrots super small and fine so they can cook well.

*Mixed spice contains allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon, so you can omit the cinnamon if you want to but I felt that it wasn't enough.

Enjoy!

Turkish Lamb Pizza with Zucchini

2013-11-01T00:52:00.000-07:00

Delicious, crunchy, super thin crust topped with spiced minced lamb and balanced out with creamy greek yoghurt! Enough said.

Turkish Lamb Pizza with Zucchini

Serves 4

2 cups White Wings plain flour

3/4 cups of hot water

100 ml olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

500g lamb mince

1/2 tsp allspice

2 tsp cumin

1/3 cup tomato paste

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 cloves garlic

4 zucchini, sliced

Jalna Greek yoghurt and roasted pine nuts

Combine 1 tbsp salt with the flour. Add the hot water and 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Knead the dough until smooth. Wrap in plastic wrap and let it rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

Sautee the onion in 2 tbsp olive oil for 5 minutes. Add the mince meat. If the mince is pre cooked, just combine with onion, if not cook for a further 3 mins or until browned.

Add the allspice, 1 tsp cumin, 2 tbsp tomato paste and combine. Allow to cool.

Combine remainder of tomato paste, red wine vinegar, garlic and sliced zucchini in a bowl and marinade.

Preheat oven to 230C. Place baking trays in the oven to heat for 10 mins.

Roll out dough into 12x30 cm squares. Place on hot trays and top with 1/4 spiced mince meat and 1/4 sliced marinated zucchinis. Bake for about 10 mins.

Once the pizzas are cooked top with roasted pine nuts and greek yoghurt.

Enjoy!

'FF takes on Jamie' Spinach and Pumpkin Rotolo

2013-10-21T19:27:00.001-07:00

The other day I flicked through Jamie Oliver's 'Save with Jamie' cookbook and landed on this beautiful recipe. It was the perfect dish because we had all the ingredients at home and we felt like having a meat-free kind of day. It was super delicious and super easy to make!

Spinach and Pumpkin Rotolo

Serves 5

1 batch of fresh homemade pasta dough or 1 packet of fresh lasagne sheets

1/2 a large pumpkin or 1 whole small

1 large onion, diced

500 g spinach leaves

100 g feta cheese, crumbled

1 bottle of passata

4 large garlic cloves, sliced

Salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

Bake the pumpkin at 200C, until it is soft.

Saute the diced onion in a tablespoon of olive oil until translucent. Add the spinach and cook until it has died down. Put aside.

In another pan saute the sliced garlic. Add passata. Let it cook for about 5-10 mins or until it has thickened. Add salt. Put aside.

Once the pumpkin is cooked, mash it. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Now you need to assemble!

Place the lasagne sheets on a clean surface and evenly spread with mashed pumpkin, spinach mixture and crumbled cheese.

Once filled, roll the pasta sheets into logs and slice into quarters.

Place quarters into the tomato mixture and bake at about 180C for 30-40 mins.

Now its ready to serve!

If you have any questions, leave your lovely comments below! Enjoy!

Pasta dough

2013-10-21T19:26:00.000-07:00

Pasta dough is super easy to make and is the way to go! I love making fresh pasta as it tastes way better then store bought and is so much better for you!

Egg Pasta Dough

500g White Wings plain flour

5 whole eggs or 10 egg yolks

Combine the flour and the egg.

Knead on a flour surfaced area until smooth and bounces at the touch.

Wrap in cling wrap and rest for 30 mins.

Now its ready to be used!

Remember homemade dough is the way to go!

Dumpling dough

2013-10-10T04:17:00.000-07:00

Dumpling dough is probably the most easiest dough to make. You only need two ingredients. Flour and water. The only hard thing about it is the kneading process. Because not much water is incorporated into this recipe you are required to knead the crap out of it until it is soft and bounces to the touch.

Dumpling Dough

1 cup of White Wings plain flour
90 ml of boiled water (let it rest for 2 mins before using)

Combine flour and water together and knead until soft and bounces to the touch.

Place dough into a zip lock bag and let it stay for 30 mins. This will make the dough nice and soft.

Dough is now ready to use.

Note:

If you really need to you can add a little more water. I'd say no more then 2 tbsp.
To get the best results for dumplings, use only a little amount of the dough (I'd say as big as a gum ball) to roll out into a thin circle.

If you have any questions comment below! Enjoy!

Pot Stickers

2013-10-10T03:02:00.000-07:00

Dumplings are easy, quick and super delicious! The other day I made pot stickers using the left over filling from the recipe Barbecue Chicken Dim Sum. They were super delicious but I found that it was a little salty. If you're going to use the dim sum filling for this I highly suggest you reduce the barbecue sauce by half! Or make a sauce that does not contain anything high in salt like soy or fish sauce.

Pot Stickers

Ready made wonton wrappers or homemade dumpling dough (recipe here)

Barbecue Chicken Dim Sum filling

Alternatively

200g Chicken mince

1/2 bunch Coriander

2 tsp Fish sauce

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

3 garlic cloves (add more if desired)

2 cm ginger minced (add more if desired)

Salt

Barbecue Chicken Dim Sum filling

Get straight into filling the wonton wrappers.

Alternatively

Combine all the ingredients. Add more seasoning accordingly.

I would cook a tiny piece of the chicken to taste the flavours before filling. If its to your taste fill the wonton wrappers.

Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a pan. Place your dumplings in the pan once hot.

Cook the dumplings until the bottom has browned.

Fill the pan with 2/3 cup of boiling water to allow the dumplings to cook all the way through.

Dumplings will be ready once the water has evaporated.

Serve with a chilli sauce.

Note:

Quick sauce (Use only with alternate filling)

Combine 4 tbsp chilli sauce, 1 tsp fish sauce and 1 tbsp soy sauce.

Please comment below if you have any delicious filling suggestions! Enjoy!

'FF takes on Jamie' Korean fried rice (bibimbap)

2013-10-07T18:38:00.000-07:00

Bibimbap (Korean rice with meat and assorted veggies) is very common in Korea and is eaten quite regularly. Our house has been 'little Korea' for a while now so when I saw this I knew I had to do it!

I was originally going to call this post 'FF vs Jamie' because I was going to make the traditional bibimbap but realised that it required a lot of side dishes and I just didn't have the time so I decided to stick to the recipe instead. And can I just say that I do not regret my decision one bit. This tasted amazing. It was sweet and savoury all in one. The poached egg cut the sweetness beautifully and the chilli sent your taste buds tingling.

What I didn't like about this dish was that it tasted more like a biryani then a bibimbap. And what I think did that was the rice. Instead of using short grain white rice, he used basmati rice. Basmati rice has a real pungent flavour and smell so its not a rice that you would use in just about everything. So that would have been my only down fall. But all in all it tasted delicious!

If I were to make this again I would probably use white rice just to see how the flavours work and to determine whether or not this dish really needs the flavour that the basmati gives.

Korean fried rice

Serves 4-6

1 mug of basmati rice (Depends how much rice you want. I put a lot of rice in mine so about 3 cups of basmati rice)

200g any cut of lamb/beef, can also be left overs ( I used lamb tenderloins and I think I went a little over 200g)

2 tbsp Masterfoods barbecue sauce

2 tbsp hot chilli sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp sesame seeds

2 cloves garlic (I used 4. Garlic gives it a lot of flavour)

1 fresh red chilli (I used 2)

150g button mushrooms (I used normal white mushrooms found everywhere and slice them in half then diced them into thirds)

1/2 Savoy cabbage (I only had 1/4 available at home so I used that but I suggest using 1/2)

5 large eggs (Im the only one who likes poached eggs but I wanted a pretty picture so I used 3)

Cook the rice how ever you like to cook it best. I used the rice cooker. Super easy, super quick. I add water to the rice by eye or estimating. If you're not good with cooking rice, I suggest you make it according to the instructions on the packet!

While the rice is cooking get started on the meat. If you're using already cooked meat skip this step. Slice the meat about 1 cm thick and should not be more then 2-2.5 cm wide. You want it to be small but big enough for you to see and remember meat shrinks when it cooks! Cook with a little oil until slightly browned.

Place your cooked meat in a bowl and add the barbecue, hot chilli and soy sauce. Put that aside

Toast the sesame seeds and put aside.

5 mins before the rice is ready slice the garlic and chilli and put it into a pan with the mushrooms and about 2 tbsp oil to fry.

Add the meat and marinade into the pan. Shred the cabbage.

When the meat is sticky and golden add the cabbage and cook until it dies down.

Get a pot of boiling water with 3 tbsp vinegar. This is for your poached eggs.

Add the cooked rice and a swig of soy sauce and mix through. Press the rice down to get crunchy rice around the sides and a soft middle.

Start poaching your eggs one by one. If you don't know how to poach eggs click here.

Serve the rice in the pan topped with the poached eggs. Bust the poached eggs, sprinkle sesame seeds and add some extra chilli.

Serve immediately!

Note: So I didn't use the exact measurements he used, I kind of just added things as I went. I used the same ingredients just not the same measurements. My adjustments are in the brackets.

If you have any questions ask in the comments below! Enjoy!

How to poach eggs!

2013-10-07T18:32:00.002-07:00

Poaching eggs has been a problem in every household. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This is an easy way to do it.

Poached eggs

4 cups water

1/3 cup vinegar
Eggs

Pour the vinegar and the water into a pot. Place on to a stove top and let it simmer until its just about to boil.

Crack your eggs into a small bowl so it is easier to pour into the water.

Once the water is simmering, grab a whisk and stir the water until you get a whirlpool. Once you can see the bottom of the pot quickly pour the egg into the open space and leave it. The egg will attach itself to the bottom of the pot and form a perfect poached egg.

Let it cook for 3-4 mins. Repeat with the other egg.

Super easy! Have a go and see how you do!

If you have any questions leave in the comments below. Enjoy!

Gooey Peanut Butter and Banana Oats

2013-10-06T21:19:00.004-07:00

These oats were a perfect breakfast for a cold winter morning. It was nice and hot and gooey and just so damn good! What more could you ask for?

Gooey Peanut Butter and Banana oats

Serves 1

1/3 cup Uncle Toby's 3 grain oats

2/3 cup milk

1 tsp of your choice of sweetener (Vanilla essence, honey, sugar, vanilla sugar)

1 large ripe banana

1 tbsp Kraft peanut butter (add more if you wish)

Combine your oats, milk and sweetener in a saucepan and put it on the heat for 5 mins or until cooked.

Meanwhile smash 2/3 of your banana and combine it with the peanut butter and put aside.

Once oats are cooked, layer it with the pb+banana mixture.

Top the oats with the remaining 1/3 of the banana. Serve immediately!

Super easy! Super delicious! Enjoy!

'FF takes on Jamie' Hit 'n' run tray-baked chicken

2013-10-06T04:21:00.000-07:00

This recipe has to be the best meal yet and should be in everyones repertoire. Its simple, quick and super easy! The recipe calls for every day core ingredients so there is no need for you to go out of your way to buy them.

For a dish that was super easy and simple, it was packed with delicious flavours! The garlic, onion and tomatoes were absorbed by the chicken beautifully and were super juicy.

I was surprised that there weren't any potatoes with this dish so I made it my highest priority to create these super delicious, crispy potatoes. My family and I absolutely love our taters so this was an absolute must!

Hit 'n' run tray baked chicken

Serves 4

4 large tomatoes, quartered

3 large onions, quartered

2 capsicums, chopped (they can be of any colour)

4 garlic cloves

1/2 a bunch of fresh thyme or 15g of dried thyme

6 chicken thighs/ 3 large breasts/ 8 chicken tenderloins

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

Combine the quartered tomatoes, quartered onions, chopped capsicums in a bowl.

Crush the garlic with a knife, skin on, and place them in the same bowl.

If you're using the chicken thigh just add it through but if you're going to be using the tenderloins or breast, chop them at a reasonable size (let the photos above guide you). Add them to the bowl.

Add the thyme, paprika, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add salt.

Toss the bowl until its thoroughly mixed through. Empty bowls contents into a pan and bake it in the oven for about an hour or until the chicken is cooked.

Serve it with a nice fresh green salad!

Enjoy!

Crispy Garlic Thyme Potatoes

Serves 4

8 potatoes

boiling water

3 large garlic cloves, sliced, skin on

a few sprigs of thyme

2 tbsp olive oil or as much as you want/need

Salt

Peel and chop the potatoes into quarters. Put them in a saucepan and add the garlic cloves and salt.

Fill the pan with boiling water and cover. Allow the potatoes to cook until they're not yet soft, still a little firm.

Drain the potatoes and return back to the pan with the garlic and return to heat. Add the thyme and olive oil and let it cook on the stove top until they've browned.

Serve alone or as a side dish with roast chicken, lamb roast or any desired meal.

Enjoy!

'FF takes on Jamie' Barbecued Chicken Dim Sum!

2013-10-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

The first recipe I attempted for my 'FF takes on Jamie' are his barbecued chicken dim sum. I absolutely love asian food and as a result I cook a LOT of it. I have never made dim sum (or buns) before so this was a first for me and I must say they were delicious!

The bun was moist and soft and with the combination of the barbecue sauce which was absorbed throughout the whole bun, it was salty yet sweet. It was mouth-watering! Or as Jamie Oliver would say, 'absolutely gorgeous!'

Barbecued Chicken Dim Sum

Serves 8

3 fresh chillies

4 spring onions

300g shredded cooked chicken, can be left over roast chicken or boiled chicken

1/2 a small bunch of fresh coriander

1 cm fresh ginger, peeled and grated

5 tbsp Masterfoods barbecue sauce

1 lime

500g White Wings self raising flour

400 ml milk, you can use coconut milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Slice the chillies and spring onions and place in a bowl of cold water until they curl.

Finely chop the coriander. Combine the shredded chicken, chopped coriander, ginger, barbecue sauce, lime. Put aside.

Combine the flour and the milk. The dough should be sticky as this makes it light and fluffy.

Transfer onto a flour dusted surface and roll the dough into a log, add more flour if it is too sticky.

Cut into 16 slices, roll then flatten into round circles. Fill each circle with a heaped tablespoon of the filling, pinch together then roll into a ball.

Place your ready buns into oiled double cased cupcake cases and place into a bamboo steamer.

Fill your wok with 2 cm of water and let it boil. Once boiled place your bamboo steamer on top of the wok. Steam it for 12 mins or until cooked.

Drain then scatter the spring onions and chilli on top of the buns and serve with the sauce of your choice.

Note:

I found it really hard to use the dough as it constantly stuck to my hands, so I placed a little drop of oil onto my hands and found that the oil made it so much easier to use. Alternatively, you can use extra flour.

Please try it and tell me what you think in the comments below! Enjoy!

FF takes on Jamie

2013-10-04T20:01:00.001-07:00

Quick post! I have decided to take inspiration from the movie 'Julie Julia' and do a weekly post from the cook books of one of my absolute favourite chefs, Jamie Oliver! So I thought I'd do only one of his books, Save with Jamie, but have decided I might also dabble a little in to his other awesome cook books. So be on the watch out for my weekly 'FF takes on Jamie' posts.

Baked Cinnamon and Coconut Oats

2013-09-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

I absolutely love my breakfast so when my mornings are totally free, I like to take my sweet time to cook up something delicious. Today oats were for me and oh my lord were these the best bowl of oats I have ever had. It was creamy and sweet and hit just the right places.

It might not look super appetising but they were so bloody good!

I topped the oats with sliced bananas and walnuts! Mmmmmmmmm!

Baked Cinnamon and Coconut Oats

Serves 1

1/3 cup of Uncle Toby's 3 grain Honey Oats

1/3 cup of coconut milk

1 tsp of cinnamon (you can adjust according to taste)

1/2 a banana, sliced

1 walnut crushed

Preheat oven to 200C fan forced.

Combine oats, coconut milk and cinnamon in a bowl and pour into an oven proof dish.

Bake the oats for about 10 mins or until its set.

Top with banana and walnut and bake for a further 5 mins.

Ready to serve!

Delicious, simple, what more could you ask for! Enjoy!

Spicy Baked Eggs

2013-08-13T18:32:00.001-07:00

So a couple of weeks ago, I woke up with a huge craving for something spicy. It was a chilly morning so it was the perfect weather to burn the bejeezus out of my mouth. I came up with the idea of making my own version of baked spanish eggs, using whatever I found in my fridge and pantry. Couldn't find much which was quite funny because I always have a never ending supply of things in the pantry! So I scraped out as much as I could and I ended up with this! Enjoy!

Baked Spanish Eggs!

Serves 1

1 small red onion, diced or finely sliced

1 large red tomato, diced

1 medium hot red chilli, finely chopped or 1 1/2 tsp hot chilli powder (or the amount of chilli you prefer)

1 whole egg

Optional: Garlic or any type of meat, mince meat, sucuk (Turkish sausage), etc.

Preheat the oven to 180C fan forced or 200C.

Place a knob of butter in a pan and cook the onion for about 1-2 mins. Don't let it go too soft because it's going to cook in the oven as well.

Put the tomatoes and the chilli in the same pan and cook with the onions for another 1-2 mins.

Place the onions, tomatoes and chilli in a oven safe bowl. Make a well in the middle and crack the egg.

Put the bowl in the oven and cook until the egg is cooked.

Toast a large slice of crunchy bread and serve with the cooked spanish eggs! Ready to eat! YUM!

Optional:

If you would like to have any type of meat in it, I would cook it before the onions and once the it looks cooked I would add the onions and continue the recipe as normal.
You could also add fresh garlic. I regret not doing so because it enhances the flavour

I hope you enjoy my version of spanish eggs and maybe changed it up a bit! If you have any suggestions, please share them and write it in the comments below!

Cilbir (Poached egg in yoghurt)

2013-07-07T18:41:00.002-07:00

A lot of people turn their nose up whenever they hear what goes into this dish. Eggs with yoghurt? Yeah I thought it sounded a bit odd at first too. Thoughts can be deceiving! So don't dismiss the idea before you've tried it.

I first heard about this dish from my granny, who used to make these back home. She said it was a scrumptious dish and it was a well known breakfast in Turkey. It sounded delicious but I was kind of scared to try it because you never know. But because I love eggs, especially for breakfast, I thought what the heck, might as well give it a go and so I did. In a really weird way the flavours really complemented each other. The yoghurt added a delicious creaminess to the eggs with the delicious butter and garlic sauce that tied the whole dish together. It was absolutely delish! I knew I would be making this for a very looong time!

There are lots of different ways you can make Cilbir but I chose to make it my way. Originally you're meant to add garlic to the yoghurt and make a chilli butter sauce, but you can adjust it to the way you would like it to taste. Either way its uh-mazing!

Cilbir (Poached eggs in yoghurt)

Serves 2

4 cups water

1/3 cup vinegar

2 free range or organic eggs

1/2 cup Jalna greek yoghurt

1 1/2 tbsp good quality butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp of fresh mint or 1/2 tbsp dried mint

Pour the water and vinegar into a pot. Place on to a stove top and let it simmer. Do not let it boil.

Crack your eggs into a small bowl so it is easier to pour into the water. Once the water is simmering, grab a whisk and stir the water until you get a whirlpool. Once you can see the bottom of the pot quickly pour the egg into the open space and leave it. The egg will attach itself to the bottom of the pot and form a perfect poached egg. Let it cook for 3-4 mins. Repeat with the other egg.

While the egg is cooking, mix the yoghurt with 1 tbsp of water until you get a smooth creamy texture. Add the mint and mix together.

Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the garlic and cook until the butter has slightly browned.

Place the eggs in a plate and smother it with the delicious yoghurt and pour the sauce all over it. Serve immediately with a crusty piece of bread.

Notes:

You can change this recipe around and use ingredients that you prefer but it's essential that you have the poached egg and the yoghurt.

TIPS:

Mix the garlic with the yoghurt and turn the butter into a mint burnt butter sauce.
Add fresh chilli or powdered chilli to the sauce to give the dish a bit of a punch

Hope you enjoy!